Brake bias

[Ackermann]

My mother recently bought a used '03 base Vibe (no ABS), and while driving it recently I noticed a bit of a braking problem. In the ice and snow we have around here it can only straight-line brake about half as hard as some other cars before locking up the rear wheels and getting all oversteer-y.I plan to check the front brake pads first, but assuming they are still in good shape does anyone have recommendations? Is there an adjustable balance bar on the MCs or some adjustment available in the prop valve? I'd really prefer to lock the fronts and understeer.Thanks.

[Sublimewind]

Hi and welcome to GenVibe...!Hmmm... I would look at the rear brakes first to be honest... The bias should be about 60/40 front/rear on the car, so if the backs are locking up, I would say it's a good chance that the rears are in need of service... Heck, it wouldn't be a bad idea to service both ends of the car.. I mean it's your mom'z, hook her up... If needed, I have a full front brake service tutorial in the DIY sections.... shouldn't be difficult to find... EDIT: one better for you... http://forums.genvibe.com/zero...69190As for the rears, they are a basic drum brake system, like so many other cars on the road.. and I think someone else here has a post regarding them as well...

[Ackermann]

Thanks for the reply.Is there something I would be looking for in the rear brakes? I figured that since they were able to stop the wheels from rotating they were doing their jobs just fine, but I don't know drums as well as I do disks.When I checked out the fronts there seems to be plenty of pad and rotor life left, and all the lines seem nice and dry, though I didn't understand part of the plumbing. Rear tires still have tread too, so I can't think of anything but a small bubble in the front lines or something going on in the drums.On second thought, I can only remember this happening at the beginning of trips. Maybe it's something like the disks aren't up to operating temperature yet? I'll have to go on a long drive and experiment some.

[Sublimewind]

Well, drum brakes require peroidic service just like anything else.. the shoes slide on the backing plate and require some lube from time to time... the adjuster screws can freeze up with corosion and require some lube as well... Same goes for the front brakes, you might see pad when you look through the caliper, but what you CAN'T see is the condition of the "slide pins" that attach the caliper to the caliper bracket and allow side-to-side movement of the caliper and pads... These can get dry and even completely seize up.. Look through my tutorial and read through the part where I mention one of my sliders almost completely seized up and the steps I took to fix it.. As far as the drums, they are all basically the same, with minor differences, so you could get on the AutoZone website and start looking through the repair section, i'll do you one better again... http://www.autozone.com/addVeh...97a43I couldn't get the images to load for me, maybe you will have better luck... It's a daunting task to do drums for the first time, but, if you take your time and take some PICTURES (hopefully digital for quick reference) it's not that difficult... There are a few specialy tools that make it easier, but they aren't 100% nessassary to do the job... much depends on how savvy with tool you are..